footworks and punches

posted at boxingcapital.com on 5 april 2009
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Eight years ago, people thought that then 33-0 Diego Corrales (40-5, 33 KOs) had a great chance of ending Floyd Mayweather's (39-0, 25 KOs) undefeated streak. The reason was that the crafty super featherweight was a dominant force in the ring who has yet to meet anybody who would give him a very tough night in the ring, while on the other hand, Floyd, although seen by many as a defensive wizard, was pretty much untested. At the end of the fight, Mayweather emerged victorious via a brutal tenth round KO win that saw Coralles hitting the canvass too many times for a supposedly dominant force.

A landmark win, Mayweather announced to the world that he was more than just a play it safe kind of fighter with 1001 ways to bore people to death. He was, okay, a complete fighter with brute power and a heavily fortified wall of defensive tricks and maneuvers characterized by lightning quick reflexes and unparalleled speed. The available adjectives may not even be enough to illustrate his talent that's so rare and mythical and was being described by seasoned observers as one that borders to perfection.

Beyond the apparent speed and reflexes he constantly exhibited from Corrales to Carlos Hernandez (43-7-1, 24 KOs) to Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) to Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) and to Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), was a very strong ring awareness and a masterful ability to shift game plans and execute the same with precision.

He was a legend in the making. He knows it and has even claimed his legendary status despite of the obvious lacking result to back it up. He has solid wins against Corrales, Hernandez, Jose Luis Castillo (57-9-1, 49 KOs), Arturo Gatti (40-9, 31), Judah, De La Hoya and Hatton but the reputation that followed some of his biggest win will continuously haunt his name and ultimately hold back his critics in recognizing his place among the legends.

His propensity to leave divisions without cleaning them up first and the tendency to take the path of least resistance will forever taint his resumé, until he acts and finally erase all doubts about his legacy. Good thing he's back, as claimed by numerous articles around the net, as he has the chance to steer his career towards that legendary legacy he wanted so badly that he even deluded himself into thinking that he already has it.

Sugar Ray Leonard (36-3-1, 25 KOs) has Roberto Duran (103-16, 70 KOs), Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KOs), Wilfred Benitez (53-8-1, 31 KOS) and Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs); Ray Robinson has faced everybody and defeated the best fighters in his time. Who has he got? An over the hill Gatti? An unmotivated Judah? A very limited Carlos Baldomir (record)? A good but past his prime Oscar who actually beat him? Hes a very promising all time legend but he just doesn't have the sufficient result to claim it. Hes undefeated with six titles in five divisions but that is not enough to finally seal the deal. Rocky Marciano's (49-0, 43 KOs) undefeated record is doomed to be placed in endless scrutiny precisely because of the shallowness of the competition found in his era; he may have wanted to be in a highly competitive bout but the best fighters available in his time were either past their primes or bloated heavyweights or both.

Something that goes in stark contrast with Mayweathers attitude as he had Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs), Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), Paul Williams (36-1, 27 KOs), and 'Sugar' Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) -- the first three were all, and are still, in their prime while the last one was/is an anomaly in his biological age -- but he, well, simply snubbed the cries to fight any of them. That is what separates the other pound for pound kings of their times from him. Floyd can learn from De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) a thing about the heart of a true champion.

At the very least, Pacquiao and De La Hoya clearly edges Mayweather in terms of heart -- the willingness to take the most hazardous fights. This is prizefighting, and we gauge fighters not just by their talent and the numbers in the parenthesis that followed their last names. We also gauge them by the heart in facing the toughest competition available there in. The enthusiasm to face the best available out there and the eagerness to prove to the boxing world that you are the true and rightful owner of the throne, that is the heart of a true champion that seals legacy.

Going with the old cliché in boxing, in order to be the best, you have to fight and beat the best. In Mayweathers case, it is about erasing all doubts as to his supposed place among the all time greats. Leonard, Duran, Hearns and Hagler have called out and faced each other; Mayweather would retire before facing any of the top welters at that time. While it's true that none among Cotto, Margarito, Williams and Mosley hold a record that matches or comes close to his -- which might be giving Floyd a false notion that there is little to prove in fighting them -- they happen to be the most formidable fights for him then and now. And because Mayweather did not even bother to look at any of these names when he hung up the leather, calling himself as the greatest is an utter disrespect to the all time greats.

After a year and a half of self-imposed exile, Floyd is reportedly back and is now training secretly. He's reportedly eyeing Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs), Pacquiao, and Mosley among a host of others. Add Williams and Cotto to the list and take out Marquez (as he hasn't gone through junior welterweight yet) and Floyd have a list of formidable fights. Two wins against any of them surely silences his critics and ensures his place among the legends.